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The View From The Front Desk

Todd Croak-Falen & Jason Kaminsky
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Working the reception desk at Sundance Institute and fielding questions from a wide array of people has taught us that not everyone understands exactly what it is we do here – which is support filmmakers.

#ArtistServices is our latest and most cutting edge way to do just that. It is an exciting opportunity to provide our alumni exclusive access to creative financing, distribution, and marketing opportunities in our rapidly evolving industry. This ambitious initiative has been spear-headed by the tireless team here at Sundance, and since reception is situated right outside their offices, we thought we'd share a bit about what we've seen and heard that has gone into its recent launch. If you think it happened overnight, think again.

Over the past six months since the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, we have transferred countless calls to our peers from filmmakers, managers, aggregators, lawyers, marketers, and digital distributors. We've arranged conference calls and forwarded calls to cell phones. We’ve seen them forget to eat lunch because they're determined to meet their deadlines. We’ve heard their heads pound against the walls while struggling to define the language of first-of-their-kind legal agreements. The circles around their eyes have deepened and we're pretty sure some haven't shaved in months. We’ve even seen them resort to physical violence when - hang on, we’ve said too much.

Bottom line, these guys have worked themselves past the point of exhaustion to pull this initiative off. When challenges came up, we watched them put their heads together and try something else. We've witnessed firsthand the dedication, the hustle, and the elation that comes along with success. Although small in staff size, they have managed to deliver their vision for this exciting new component of Sundance Institute. We are inspired by their efforts and proud to have played a small role in them.

We can be reached at 310-360-1981 and yes, we’ll patch you through to #ArtistServices.